


Two Wheels

by windandthestars



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-06
Updated: 2012-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-30 02:23:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/326734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windandthestars/pseuds/windandthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The trike she had bought her several years prior for Christmas had been a nightmare until it had grown warm enough that Helen had banished the contraption to the realm of the great outdoors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Wheels

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mynameisme](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=mynameisme).



> For Court who wanted Helen teaching Ashley how to ride a bike.

She's not entirely sure it's the best idea, teaching her young daughter how to ride a bike. Logically she understands it's perfectly safe. It wasn't crass or uncouth: the bicycle had helped begin the fight for gender equality back in the days when she looked her age. It's more that she’s' worried about Ashley, the precocious troublesome ball of trouble that she was. The trike she had bought her several years prior for Christmas had been a nightmare until it had grown warm enough that Helen had banished the contraption to the realm of the great outdoors. She was sure there was still a room of broken vases and furniture to be repaired lurking around in one of the lesser used buildings.

The two-wheeled bike with training wheels had been equally as problematic. The first afternoon Ashley managed to skin both her knees and, after hopping back on the bike despite Helen's protests, her chin.

Helen was hoping this wouldn't be a repeat of that particular afternoon.

"Can't we go out front?" 'Out front' Helen knew meant outside the front gate. The gravel pathways cutting across the Sanctuary's front lawn curved too steeply for Helen to even consider and there was no need for the rest of the world to watch her fumbling attempts at teaching her daughter something Helen had had to master on her own.

"Absolutely not. I told you you would have to wait until after I get back from London, but seeing as how you've scheduled yourself for the race at school we're doing this on my terms."

Ashley frowns, but the pouting doesn't last long. She knows she's in trouble for faking Helen's signature allowing her to join the annual spring fair at her school, but she also knows there's nothing Helen can do about that now; she's set to leave in just over an hour to catch her flight.

"Hold the back of the bike, mom." Ashley requests as if she wasn't the one trying this out for the first time.

Helen takes the seat and waits until Ashley has settled herself down before she loosens her grip a bit and breathes. The sidewalk here was somewhat narrow, lined by grass on both sides and close enough to the back door that Helen wouldn’t need to worry in the case of a medical emergency.

"Come on, mom." Ashley begins whining almost as soon as she begins pedaling. "Let go."

Helen for her part is more cautious and hangs on until Ashley's gained enough momentum that she won't topple over the second she's released. Another step and Helen lets go, jogging alongside the bike for a moment before falling back, but staying close, so that Ashley can see she's done it. Ashley stops the bike as it begins to slow and Helen manages to steady it before it can lean too far to the side.

“Again?” Ashley’s beaming as she hops down from the bike. “And let go sooner this time. I’m not going to fall off. I promise.”


End file.
